Families to be Celebrated at the Jubilee Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday, December 27

Posted by maria.zone, Community Contributor

On Sunday, December 13th, Archbishop Leonard P. Blair opened the Holy Door at the Cathedral of St. Joseph to commence the Jubilee Year of Mercy. This Sunday, he will celebrate families and invite them to walk through the Holy Door.

On Sunday, December 13th, Archbishop Leonard P. Blair opened the Holy Door at the Cathedral of St. Joseph to commence the Jubilee Year of Mercy. This Sunday, he will celebrate families and invite them to walk through the Holy Door. (Posted by maria.zone, Community Contributor)

Community Contributor maria.zone

Archbishop Leonard P. Blair will celebrate the gift of families on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph at the Cathedral of St. Joseph on Sunday, December 27th at 11 a.m. The special Mass is part of the year-long celebration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Archbishop Blair hopes to continue to build upon the excitement and momentum generated by Pope Francis' visit last September for the World Meeting of Families, when he emphasized that "it is very important to reaffirm the family, which remains the essential cell of society." Essentially, families play an instrumental role in making the Church and society a better and healthier place.

Family representatives from parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Hartford have been invited to journey through the Holy Door at the Cathedral, and pray that as a family unit, they can experience the call to God's mercy.

Pope Francis reminds us that merciful actions are "the clearest criterion for ascertaining who God's true children are." We do this by going outside of ourselves and our comfort zones to address the misery of others both morally and materially through "works of mercy" both corporal and spiritual. The corporal works of mercy are charitable actions by which we help our neighbors in their bodily needs. These include feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and prisoners, burying the dead and giving alms to the poor. The spiritual works of mercy are actions that help our neighbors in their spiritual needs. These include counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing the sinner, comforting the sorrowful, forgiving injuries, bearing wrongs patiently and praying for the living and the dead.

Music at the Cathedral will be provided by the children's choir, and families will be able to take photos with the Archbishop after the Mass.

The Mass is open to the public.

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